Technology is enabling us to achieve remarkable things, yet it’s rendering many jobs obsolete. How will the world of work change over the next 50 years? Andrew MacAfee, Principal Research Scientist for the Initiative on the Digital Economy at the MIT Sloan School of Management, explores the possibilities ahead.

The Ego Revolution at Work: A must-Read!

Entitled “The Ego Revolution at Work”, the new book by Denis Pennel emphases the demise of a dominant work organisation model (Fordism) and the emergence of new forms of work (such as uberisation, human cloud, self-employment,).

Today’s labour markets are characterised by the rise of a dispersed workforce and increasing working time flexibility. In this new environment the needs of individuals and business are changing rapidly: companies can no longer offer the security of “a job for life” and individuals want more freedom of choice and expect to work the way they live!

The way businesses and individuals think about employment needs to change to accommodate this new working environment. The workplace must be aligned with today’s diverse workforce. Social benefits must become portable to protect individuals’ rights whatever their status, and with these benefits no longer attached to an organisation. Employers must find new ways to attract and retain just-in-time workers and to engage with an extended workforce.

Demographics, automation and inequality have the potential to dramatically reshape our world in the 2020s and beyond. Our analysis shows that the collision of these forces could trigger economic disruption far greater than we have experienced over the past 60 years. The aim of this report by Bain's Macro Trends Group is to detail how the impact of aging populations, the adoption of new automation technologies and rising inequality will likely combine to give rise to new business risks and opportunities. These gathering forces already pose challenges for businesses and investors. In the next decade, they will combine to create an economic climate of increasing extremes but may also trigger a decade-plus investment boom.

The fourth industrial revolution brought by data and connectivity creates a great need to compete with big disruptive technologies otherwise we will fail, with terrible consequences for the next generation. Yet it is also the next generation who are best equipped to thrive in this environment.

Digital transformation in manufacturing is driving process capability and productivity in existing systems. It’s reducing time to market through faster prototyping and product optimisation. It’s facilitating the global supply of product and services, irrespective of geographic location. It’s the future.

There are problems with our recruitment of different types of workers. These include prejudice and bias, lack of visibility of available workers, low levels of trust in centralised social networks, spam and high fees to intermediaries. We now have the opportunity to build the next generation work platforms enabled by technology such as artificial intelligence, mobile and blockchain, the underlying technology behind Bitcoin. Blockchains are essentially distributed ledgers, which enable secure peer-to-peer encrypted transactions. There is no central database, or intermediaries needed and it keeps an immutable digital record of transactions. Beyond the latest headline grabbing crypto price bubble, blockchain solutions are being built. For example, blockchain solutions are being developed to record property transactions on land registries, logging birth certificates in Illinois and tracking blood diamonds.

Platforms aren’t very popular these days. Uber is being challenged in court everywhere. Many people can’t forget the accusations of sexism levelled at Uber.

Platforms conjure up apocalyptic images of a ruthless world where there is too little work left and whatever work is left is served up on a platform to whoever will be the lowest bidder. Thus the “platformization” of work is said to destroy our social compound, our institutions and the livelihood of workers. Platforms are accused of causing a race to the bottom that condemns workers to an insecure life of low-paid gigs. Some of these workers are even sentenced to brave the cold and the rain to deliver hot meals to rich carefree urbanites. Of course that image is a gross exaggeration at best, an ideological distortion of reality at worst. Perhaps platformization is not so bad after all. But most of all, the problem with that picture is the oversimplification that comes with it.

Government programmes have failed to keep pace with the changes in the workforce. Work is not just a means of support; it provides fulfillment and a sense of purpose. As we live longer, we can and should work longer. But that requires not only adjusting our government retirement programs, but also the way we think about workers in their fifties. In the future they will be far enough away from retirement, that they will require new skills for a new job. Life-long learning will be a reality. We need not be pessimistic, but we must be vigilant and more importantly we must recognise the realities of our current workforce and the impact of technology and innovation. Our education, insurance, and retirement programmes must be updated to meet the challenges of the future. Fighting to preserve the past is not the answer – seeking smarter solutions that solve today’s needs and prepare for tomorrow is the path forward.

The gig economy has its pros and cons for freelancers, with work-life balance, freedom to work anytime anywhere and variety on the plus side. While uncertainty, lack of benefits, erratic schedules and complex tax obligations due to working in multitude of different jobs across various sectors make up for some of the challenges. As for businesses, the gig economy provides many positives, including contracting experts on a project basis and saving on resources such as permanent salaries, benefits, and office space. However, the other side of the coin is difficulty to find reliable freelancers who can keep up a high quality of work. The ownership of Gig workers could also be questionable as they might have their own preferences, and could change their area of focus midway leaving the employer stranded. be. As it grows in prominence, companies will require new tools, systems and processes to respond and adjust to the complexities of this 21st century work stream.

Tim O’Reilly talks to McKinsey’s James Manyika about the interplay between technology, the economy, and the future of work.

O’Reilly: I’ve been using the term “the next economy” to wrap up a whole load of concepts around technology and the future of work. We see a lot of concern about artificial intelligence, on-demand services, and robots, and we have this notion that these technologies are going to take away jobs. You hear people say, “Oh my gosh, we’re going to wipe out truck driving.”

In a lot of ways, when you look at a platform-style business, it is empowering people to make decisions. There are a lot of critics who will say, “Well, an Uber driver isn’t really an entrepreneur. An Airbnb host isn’t really an entrepreneur.” And yet they are. They’re not told when to show up. They actually are encouraged to study what are the times when their income is going to be best. You have to figure out where are the best places to go. Uber says it will provide tools to help you understand that.

Artificial Intelligence is definitely coming, but perhaps not as fast, nor as radically. Rod Brooks, Founder and CTO of Rethink Robotics, noted that learning isn't general, and said that learning how to navigate isn't the same as learning how to use chopsticks, which in turn isn't the same as learning languages. He noted that today's computer can identify pictures of people carrying umbrellas in the rain, but can't answer basic questions like "Can racoons carry umbrellas?" Tom Kochan, Co-Director and Professor, Work and Employment Research at MIT's Sloan School of Management, said there are four major elements of an "Integrated Technology and Work Strategy," to ensure technology works for society in general.

The first element, Kochan said, is to define the challenge, and determine the problem (or problems) we are trying to solve. Second, he thinks that instead of considering the technology first, and then the workforce, we should integrate the technology and work design process. As an example, he talked about how GM spent $50 billion on automation, but didn't listen to its workforce, and thus didn't get the results it had hoped for. The third element, Kochan said, is training, and we should train before technology is deployed, as well as "make lifelong learning a reality for all." In the case of GM, autoworkers needed to understand the technology in order for it to be deployed properly, and instead faced the stress of learning how to use the technology when it was installed. Finally, Kochan said we need to compensate those who are most adversely affected. He said that although new jobs will be created, that doesn't matter to the individuals who lose their jobs, and we must deal fairly with those who are negatively impacted.

These 5 podcast episodes all discuss the future of work from a variety of different perspectives. We all know that staying informed about what's going on in our industry is important. But in the middle of a busy workday, how do you find the time to read articles? With so many industry news sites writing in dry and jargonistic language, it can be tough to care enough or to will yourself to read them. That's one of the many things a podcast is good for: helping you stay up-to-date with a human voice that you can listen to anywhere, any time. Below, we've assembled episodes from five different podcasts for HR professionals, all on the subject of the future of work.

In today’s rapidly changing market, organizations and workforce experts alike are trying to determine what the future of work will look like. However, most professionals involved in the process operate from the perspective of their individual scope of responsibility, which often leads to siloed perspectives that may solve one aspect of the challenge—yet create another problem.

Based on conversations across the market and our in-depth research, KellyOCG has determined that there are four dimensions organizations need to consider when contemplating the “future of work”: the workforce, the workplace, technology, and social norms. By taking these four dimensions into account, organizations can better gain a comprehensive overview of the range of models they may want to utilize to engage and execute within their workforce plan. Further, they can assess which combination of engagement models will drive the business outcomes they want to achieve.

Labour markets have undergone significant change over the past decade, driven by a series of structural shifts: Traditional business models are being challenged by a new economic environment and emerging on-demand economy; our supply chains are now global, resulting in more outsourcing, project-based and online work; rising individualism has changed people’s attitudes to work; and new technologies are prompting the need for new skills and lifelong learning. Meanwhile, the onward march of digitalisation means that people can literally work from anywhere, eroding the conventional, nine-to-five, command and control office culture. The Commission’s social fairness package represents an encouraging step in extending social innovation to European labour markets. It proposes a policy environment that embraces emerging trends and looks to create a European working environment fit for the realities of the 21st century.

For workers it means portable rights, new types of collective representation, access to housing and credit as well as pensions and sick pay throughout their lives. Hence, Europe needs to broaden social innovation into the world of work if it is to create the efficient and resilient labour markets needed to drive growth and competitiveness. The employment industry touches on many of these ambitions in its manifesto, ‘No future of work without social innovation’, explains Denis Pennel, managing director of the World Employment Confederation-Europe. “We are proposing to overhaul the social structure underpinning how we organise, classify, support and regulate work. We also make five policy recommendations: equal access to the labour market through a diversity of work contracts; a fair job for all; a new social deal with modernised social protection systems; skills training; and responsible labour market intermediation to help the efficient matching of supply with demand in our labour markets.”

How to remove yourself from imposter syndrome by embracing 'and' into your 'who are you' question.

The days of working the same job for thirty to forty years before retirement hasn’t been heard about since our grandparents day. It’s typical today to have three to seven career switches over the course of a working life. Millenials and members of Gen Z have grown up in the information age; the democratization of the internet has meant a chance to dabble in lots of potential careers before ever graduating from college. Younger people may have a number of “side hustles” in addition to their 9 to 5 jobs. The way we work has evolved, yet the way we talk about our work has not. We speak to college students and those new to the workforce of finding their “passion:” the one career path that will fulfil them spiritually and financially.

So much energy is put into finding this special “one.” Yet this language doesn’t reflect a modern work experience. Nor does it reflect a true life experience. Do we know any person with only “one” interest? Even people who are extremely successful in one area of life have developed other capabilities as well. In Jeff Haden’s book The Motivation Myth, he uses Venus Williams as a case study. She was always expected to be a star tennis player. But Venus’s father demanded more from his high-achieving daughter; to excel in academics, to pursue entrepreneurial ventures — in addition to winning on the court. Today, Venus is a Master’s degree student, an athletic clothing designer, and an entrepreneur. And oh yes, there’s the tennis, too.

Today's workplaces are experiencing changes at unprecedented rates. The rise of digitization and automation, increased access to information, and the globalization of markets are among the trends challenging traditional approaches to work, company cultures, management and jobs. Organizations everywhere are looking for strategies and tactics to stay competitive and grow -- and simply doing what they've done in the past will likely prove unsuccessful.

Almost a decade after the onset of the Great Recession, the world economy continues to struggle. The global gross domestic product has puttered along at under 3% growth since 2012, well below historical norms. Widespread joblessness -- particularly among young people -- has led to social and political strife in many areas. Since 2015, economic frustrations have likely contributed to a rise in nationalism and growing resentment toward immigrants, particularly in the U.S. and Europe. The resulting social and political volatility is not just a government issue. These conditions dampen business development as skittish investors weigh increased risk.

To achieve productivity gains while avoiding the instability that disrupts sustainable growth, governments and businesses alike need to place new focus on the resources and strategies they use to develop and empower their citizens and workforces. Broad-based strategies for human capital development give more individuals a stake in the success of their employer or their country, boosting their motivation and reducing the potential for conflict.

Forget automation. The workplace is already cracking up in profound ways, and Washington is sorely behind on dealing with it.

The repercussions go far beyond the wages and hours of individuals. In America, more than any other developed country, jobs are the basis for a whole suite of social guarantees meant to ensure a stable life. Workplace protections like the minimum wage and overtime, as well as key benefits like health insurance and pensions, are built on the basic assumption of a full-time job with an employer. As that relationship crumbles, millions of hardworking Americans find themselves ejected from that implicit pact. For many employees, their new status as “independent contractor” gives them no guarantee of earning the minimum wage or health insurance.

Would more women stay in the workplace if they had a flexible work arrangement that made it easier to manage work and motherhood? That's the hypothesis behind Anna Auerbach and Annie Dean's company, Werk, the first marketplace for top jobs with pre-negotiated flexibility.

Auerbach and Dean: You might be surprised to know that 80% of companies in the U.S. already have some form of workplace flexibility. The challenge, until now, has been implementation. That’s why the uptake on those programs is between 1-25% (depending on the survey). Werk provides companies with the tool and framework to implement strategic flexibility. The overwhelming majority of companies we talk to are very open to it—and the most common question we get is how we can help. We do feature a lot of startups and tech companies on our platform and that’s because those places already tend to be incredibly flexible and they are also constantly growing and hiring.

Whether it's costs, control issues or adoption speeds, automation is a lot less straightforward than we think.

We tend to mostly focus on the automation of labour, since we are dependent on the wages we earn and are concerned about potential job losses, the rule of robots and a universal basic income. Even though labour is highly important, automation should be seen more broadly, since automation can and currently does permeate our private lives, how we communicate, where we eat, what we buy, whom we date, which party we choose at an election and much, much more. Thus, automation should be discussed in a more holistic sense, addressing the economic, environmental, political, ethical, cultural, legal and social dimensions. So far, this happens only on the fringe.

It seems beyond debate: Technology is going to replace jobs, or, more precisely, the people holding those jobs. Few industries, if any, will be untouched. Knowledge workers will not escape. Recently, the CEO of Deutsche Bank predicted that half of its 97,000 employees could be replaced by robots. One survey revealed that “39% of jobs in the legal sector could be automated in the next 10 years. Separate research has concluded that accountants have a 95% chance of losing their jobs to automation in the future.”

And for those in manufacturing or production companies, the future may arrive even sooner. That same report mentioned the advent of “robotic bricklayers.” Machine learning algorithms are also predicted to replace people responsible for “optical part sorting, automated quality control, failure detection, and improved productivity and efficiency.” Quite simply, machines are better at the job: The National Institute of Standards predicts that “machine learning can improve production capacity by up to 20%” and reduce raw materials waste by 4%.

Today’s we are facing significant new technology and cultural forces, from artificial intelligence, workforce fluidity, and hyperpersonalization, to the demand for equity and inclusion. These phenomena are reshaping the future of work, resulting in three megatrends for HR to prepare for in 2018: people-first AI, highly individualized leadership, and achieving breakthrough diversity and inclusion. Of these three megatrends, cloud-based AI and related technologies such as machine learning, natural language processing, image recognition, and virtual reality, will likely have the biggest impact on HR in 2018, changing the dynamic among people, work, and communication.

Economists agree that throughout history, jobs are made obsolete through technological and economic advancements. However, history tells us these jobs will be replaced by new jobs as the economy shifts and needs change. For example, blacksmiths were rendered obsolete when automobile manufacturing began, but new jobs in car manufacturing and highway construction were created. History confirms that displaced workers always find other jobs and the effects of the growing digital economy won't change this trend.

The article strikes close to home, and interestingly, an article from halfway around the globe is sharing the same suggestions that the Singaporean government is advising us to take, elucidating just how relevant the issue on technology replacing the workforce is around the world. Our life in a couple of decades time will mostly revolve around technology (in fact it is already beginning to). When our jobs come under threat from the new technology, it is ultimately our responsibility to upgrade ourselves in terms of skillset, as well as proving our value and worth. We have the option to let technology displace us when the time comes, or prepare for that transition in advance to aid it as much as possible. As much as we do not want it to happen anytime soon, the continued emergence of new technologies will change the way our societies have to work and function, that is unavoidable. Society is ever changing and will never stop to wait for us. Hence, since the world will not stop for us, we will have to take the initiative to move with it.

You're rigth Ernest,, but to be honest: social changes take far more time then the rate of automation. Certainly, society will adopt eventuallu, but it's the gap in time between that adaption and what automation brings us that should worry us.

In an era marked by rapid advances in automation and artificial intelligence, new research assesses the jobs lost and jobs gained under different scenarios through 2030.

The technology-driven world in which we live is a world filled with promise but also challenges. Cars that drive themselves, machines that read X-rays, and algorithms that respond to customer-service inquiries are all manifestations of powerful new forms of automation. Yet even as these technologies increase productivity and improve our lives, their use will substitute for some work activities humans currently perform—a development that has sparked much public concern.

The Adecco Group’s YOSS freelancer market place went live today in France More skilled professionals are rejecting the 9-5 and embracing the gig economy as a long-term career and lifestyle choice according to global research by the Adecco Group and LinkedIn.

•For 54% surveyed in the Adecco Group research joining the gig economy is a lifestyle and career choice •Gig economy attracting highly-skilled, experienced professionals •Governments and companies must do more to unleash full potential of gig economy

We know startlingly little about the interplay between online-facilitated gigs (Uber, TaskRabbit, GrubHub, Airbnb hosting) and traditional employment. That’s because we analyze employment in the US using 20th century definitions, and data that government agencies struggle to understand on limited budgets. The result is that we know something has changed, but we don’t know how or how much.

It would help if the government increased budgets to answer these questions about the invisible labor force, the gig economy and the changing nature of work, but that isn’t going to happen anytime soon. In the absence of that, we would do best to acknowledge more publicly that much is happening and changing too quickly to understand in real time. Until we get a clearer picture, none of it is going to make much sense.

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